Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-12-01
A DESTRUCTIVE FIRE.
Comp'ete,Distructlon by Fire OF the De
Moines Pork Packing Buildings.

The Des Moines Register In its issue of
Nov, 20 contains the TO lowing graphic
account Of tue burning OF one Of the CITY s
largest industries:
The burning # the immense pork pack,
| ing establishment of the Des Moints
| Packing Co, on Thursday night was one
| of the most costly fires the city has eyer
had. The fire was discovered about )
O'Clock p M, by the nightwatchman,
| He first saw a small blaze in the vicinity
of one of the large larl tanks A lamp
had been left burning there and il is sup.
| posed that this exploded. though the
exact cause of the fire is not known. The
| Waterman fully realized the danger and
made strenuous efforts to stay the spreading
| flames but as soon rs he saw that nothin,:
could be done. he sent In the alarm The
nre companiess i~hed TO the scene quickly,
but the houses were in the extreme south.
eastern limits Of the city and much time
was consumed before they could get u,
the flames. The only water that could
be cotton was from the International
Distillery near by, and line o. hose was
laid and the fires started in the distillery
pumps But tie fire company was power.
less under the circumstances aud they
~
small portion of the contents Of the
houses. The nature Of the contents of
the houses caused the flames to spread
rapidly and soon to envelop the whole
building there was an immense amount
of lard and pork in the building, and il
burned fercely. A large crowd was at.
tracted from the city AMI the adjoining
towns, and many willing hands went to
lad f,,. -
the Building last To catch fire large guam
titles OF meat, thus saving several thou
sand dollars from the wealth of the dc.
stroying element Mr.. Windsor, the PRIV
prietor was notified and he was soon
upon the ground.
The spectacle Of so much valuable
property going to ashes was sad one and
yet the scene In some respects was mag
nticent. 1t was the largest blaze ever in
the city. The whole country was bril-.
liantly Illuminated and good portion of
the city was az light as day. The flame
times and continued for long while. AT
one time a lard tank exploding endanger,
ed the lives of hundreds Of people who
always crowd close to large fire. The
tank was thrown high above the flames
and came down near by icing almost
buried in the earth. The fire burned
tiercely until morning and the smoking
meat was still burning yesterday after.
noon.
The loss was estimated at $3.50 900 by
Mr.. J. III. Windsor, the proprietor The
u ldng and material were valu ,ble bur
Il heaviest loss Is in the large quantity
Of fresh meat products on hand.
The buildings were erected several
years ago. and the business has steadily
grown to its present proportions, enlarg
ing the capacity each year. Mr., Windsor
formerly had associated with him some
Chicago men, but he Is now almost the
sole owner Of the company. He had the
good business custom Of keeping heavily
insured. and the $4,000 will go far TO-
tward starting the business again. The
works started up about the middle of
October and an average of 800 hogs n
day had been slaughtered On Thursd y
|. 100 hogs had been killed, the force hav
ing recently been increased to the full
capacity. There were about 2. 90 dres >ed
hogs hanging mp, ready for the final pro.
cesses 81 packing The hou.e gave en-.
ployment to over 100 men, besides the
buyers and shippers who were securlr I
the h Is II was n great market for farm
produce1n Central Iowa, and it will prove
quite a loss TO the farmers. Many ship.
ments Of hogs were on the way to the
packing house from different parts of the
State, and these orders had TO be all
countermanded. Mr.. Windsor was too
busy yesterday to lay plans for the flu
ture, but he inlimated that he would re-
build. For the present II he hopes to
fill his orders for the winter, he will be
compelled to rent temporary quarters. 1t
is sincerely hoped that he will replace the
burned building at some future time. The
insurance men Of the city were excited
all day over the matter rs II was the
largest am unit of insurance ever repre-
sented in a Dcs Moines fire. The amounts
were well distributed among the compan.
les, all of which are foreign, and all good
companies.